I’m back! I am actually about to embark on my next adventure, a solo trip through Belize and Guatemala. This teaching gig has been working out nicely as I now will have 2 months of every year to play around with a longer trip to places where I can live my life for a fraction of the cost it would in Vancouver. I have truly been living the last 11 months of my life for this one coming up, as I have had an extremely exhausting first year of teaching. But HERE WE ARE!

As I have dabbled in loosely planning my upcoming itinerary, I thought it would be useful to share a working 4 week itinerary for Peru that we used in case you might find yourself there in the next few years (Tickets are getting super cheap, about $600 return to Lima from Vancouver).

4 WEEKS IN PERU BACKPACKING ITINERARY

Lima: 1-2 days (I would say one at the beginning and one at the end, if you fly in and out of Lima)
Paracas: Half day then head to Huacachina in the afternoon.
Ica (Huacachina): Half day, overnight bus to Arequipa
Arequipa: 5-7 days, depending on how much you like hiking
Cusco: 12-14 days, again depending on how much you like hiking

Check out some loose descriptions of each city below to find their blog posts of what we did in each place!

Lima (Blog post 1, Blog post 2)
How much time? 1 day at the beginning of your trip and one day at the end
Make sure to: Have a night on the town. I went to a weird club in a mall. I was the only non-Peruvian there, and it was an experience. Also go see Barranco!
We wish we: Visited some fine dining at top places like Centrale, and Maido (reservations well in advance are required)! Next time.

Paracas/Huacachina
How much time? 1 day for both (Ballestas in morning, dunes in afternoon). Stay overnight the night before in Paracas
Make sure to: See the island and the dunes
We wish we: Had time for the Paracas National Reserve. But hey you can’t see everything!

Arequipa (The city, Chachani Volcano if you are adventurous, and Colca Canyon!)
How much time? 1 full day in the city, 2 for Chachani, and 3 for Colca. So at least 6!
Make sure to: Have a night out on the town (you might need a full day to recover), and eat at Zig Zag!
We wish: That Kristy wasn’t ill with altitude sickness for the first three days…..but this is why you need to be flexible with your itinerary!

Cusco (The city and Maras, The Salkantay Trek, Machu Picchu, and Rainbow Mountain and the Red Valley)!
How much time? Stay the 2 weeks then fly back to Cusco.
Make sure to: Do ALL THE things we did, and enjoy the delicious food in Cusco.
We wish we: Could stay in Cusco a month. There was so much to do and so little time!

Happy Traveling!